Nuclear tensions in the Middle East

For several years, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program has been one of the most heated issues of the Middle East in the international community.

The country has been working on harvesting energy from uranium reactors and nuclear enrichment facilities, for which it has come under much scrutiny.

While the Iranian government claims that the sole purpose of these operations is for energy, the West believes the nation has ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.

One of the biggest fears of the United States is that if Iran gets the ability to create and deploy nuclear weapons, it would use them against Israel, a key ally of the United States and Iran’s long time regional nemesis.

Israel has maintained a policy of ambiguity, only claiming that it would not be the first country in the Middle East to unleash a nuclear weapon. Many ayatollahs, including the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of Iran, have issued a “fatwa,” or religious edict, holding the use of nuclear weapons to be “haraam,” forbidden in Islam, giving the reason that the purpose of nuclear weaponry is mass murder.

Last year, Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu presented to the United Nations a simple diagram showing different tiers of uranium enrichment, with a red line near the top of the bomb indicating where Iran was headed with uranium enrichment, towards a nuclear bomb. For the United States, NATO member nations and other countries with positive ties to Israel, this meant a lot.

More sanctions were added to Iran, further crippling its economy. Last week, there was a mass leak of spy cables which revealed communication and information on multiple spy agencies including the CIA, MI6 and Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency.

Correspondence between Mossad and Netanyahu showed that the Israeli president had knowledge that Iran was not moving its nuclear program in the direction of making weapons, rather towards using nuclear technology as an alternative to conventional sources of electricity.

I am not going to go into all the evidence to suspect Israel of ulterior motives, such as Iran’s lobby group being in the top five richest groups to lobby the American government, nor am I going to delve into the numerous U.N. Resolutions Israel has violated, such as using chemical weapons without receiving warnings or punishment. But if all of that evidence is not enough, what is enough to prove that the Islamic Republic of Iran is not trying to make a nuke?

Netanyahu’s is using the same pretense George Bush used to invade Iraq.

Hans Blix, the former weapons inspector of the U.N. has been opposing Israel’s claims for now. Yet the status quo establishment is clearly looking for excuses to weaken Iran.
Why is this? Among other reasons, to protect Israel and further its purposes.